


encounters

by 1ho



Series: provisions [1]
Category: Monsta X (Band), No.MERCY (TV)
Genre: (pls anticipate it), Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, M/M, a main fic is coming after this, also do not fear, bc i remembered that in part three, eventually, honestly this is more for setting up the au itself and seeing if you guys like it than anything else, just changed the shipping category thing, the plotline for what's coming if you guys like this au is much more interesting, there are subtle hints of joogun and seokho, there will be a lot of gay, this is just like, this is kinda a prequel of sorts, with EVERYONE from monsta x and no.mercy, world background and character backstories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-06-07 10:07:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6799513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1ho/pseuds/1ho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Animals can be tame?"</p><p>Changkyun sighed. "Not anymore."</p><p>There was a pause as the three felt their own scars and injuries that'd been woven into their bodies, the accumulated evidence of the hostility of animals.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. conversations (what you know, what you don't)

**Author's Note:**

> ayyy friends  
> so i've got a longass dystopia au planned for you all  
> this is just a prequel of sorts to set up the au and see if you guys like it  
> lemme know what you guys think pls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Do you ever wonder what it was like? Y'know, before our ancestors fucked up?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is only the beginning  
> more world building/character building is to come after this  
> i promise  
> i have three parts of this prequel thing planned and written

A dull grey glow filtered through cave's entrance and dimly lit its interior. Gunhee laid sprawled across the cold ground and Jooheon sat lazily next to him, leaning back against a larger rock. It was Changkyun's turn to skin and gut their spoils for the day, and the youngest focused on the task at hand without complaint.

Gunhee sighed.

"Do you ever wonder what it was like? Y'know, before our ancestors fucked up?" He asked the stone ceiling. Jooheon thought for a moment, but Changkyun cut in without a moment's pause, not even bothering to look up from the carcass in front of him.

"They have books full of information on that shit. If you really want to know, read about it."

Gunhee rolled his eyes and subtly shook his head.

"We don't have _time_ to read, Changkyun," he started, exasperated, "and how the hell do you expect me to get books in 13?"

Changkyun thought about Gunhee's words. Books were a rarity, reserved for those smart enough to qualify for scientific and governmental training or those with the connections to otherwise acquire them. The common people had no means to indulge in such luxuries, especially not in 13, a cluster known for its large wealth gap.

"Yeah, not everyone grew up like you did, Changkyunnie." Jooheon added.

Sometimes Changkyun forgot that not everyone had access to libraries like he did when he was younger and bright enough to be handpicked for academia. His childhood had been a vastly different experience to Jooheon and Gunhee's, albeit perhaps just as deprived in a different way.

Gunhee shifted onto his side to look at Changkyun more intently.

"Since you seem to know more than me n' Jooheon, care to tell us ‘bout pre-shithole earth?" Gunhee inquired, eyes burning with curiosity. Changkyun sighed, abandoning his work and turning to face his peers. This was going to take a while.

"First off, animals weren't so… vicious. Not all of them attacked humans on sight and some of them were herbivores."

"Herbivores?" Jooheon asked, genuine confusion written plainly on his face.

"Animals that eat plants. You know, like the vegetables that come with our daily rations."

Gunhee let out a hearty laugh. "You're telling me that animals back then knew how to bio-engineer vegetables?"

"No. Plants used to grow from the ground, Gunhee. The sky didn't used to be the sheet of grey it is now and it used to rain. The sun and the rain used to feed the plants."

"What the hell is rain?" It was easy for Changkyun to forget that Gunhee and Jooheon didn't know much about things they hadn't physically encountered due to their upbringing. They weren't dumb guys, per se, they were just two guys thrust into an unfortunate situation and forced to survive. Then again, so was Changkyun after his previous life fell apart.

"Water that fell from the sky."

Jooheon looked thoroughly impressed, but simultaneously skeptical. "Sounds fake to me."

"I'm telling you, it was in the books. We had to read them as a requirement for scientific training, to see if anyone could develop a way to reverse what our ancestors did to the atmosphere."

Jooheon and Gunhee both nodded. The atmospheric damage done by their ancestors was common knowledge, part of a mantra recited to the public every year on a certain date to remind everyone of the atrocities committed and prevent them from reoccurring. Every single person, regardless of upbringing, had this part of their history ingrained into their minds.

"Honestly, I find animals _not_ being bloodthirsty monsters harder to believe than magic sky water."

"Well back then they weren't all that way. People even had pets."

"Changkyun, explain yourself better. Me n' Jooheon never went through the schooling you did." Changkyun looked vaguely confused, and Gunhee rolled his eyes. "Pets?"

"Domestic animals."

"And what the hell is a domestic animal?"

"Animals people kept in their own homes."

"Isn't that a bit dangerous?"

"They were tame."

"Tame?"

"They didn't harm their owners and were trained to do as they're told."

"Animals can be tame?"

Changkyun sighed. "Not anymore."

There was a pause as the three felt their own scars and injuries that'd been woven into their bodies, the accumulated evidence of the hostility of animals. It was Jooheon who finally broke the silence.

"Honestly, I wouldn't mind having an animal around if it wouldn't rip me apart in my sleep and would do my bidding. It'd be good for protection." Jooheon mused. "How'd they change so much?"

Changkyun quickly snapped out of his memories. "After the nuclear war and the effects of ozone depletion, all the radiation left on earth altered the genes of several animal species, including us. Our ancestors weren't as physically able and required more food, water, sleep, and warmth than be need now. That's not all that changed the animals either. All the plants dying due to the change in atmospheric makeup messing with the photosynthesis process meant all the herbivores died, and all the herbivores dying meant less food for the carnivores and omnivores. This meant that only the most brutal of animals survived in the end, leaving us with the unpleasant batch we have now."

"Jesus, Changkyun. Drop the bullshit science talk and speak normally. What the hell are carnivores and omnivores?" Gunhee was always the least tactful of the three.

"You tell me to drop the science talk, yet you totally understand the most scientific parts of what I just said and ask for clarification on carnivores and herbivores?" Sometimes it confused Changkyun, what the other two knew or didn't know. How could someone understand the complexities of what nuclear war did to the planet, but not understand a simple classification of animals?

"Nuclear war, ozone depletion, and dying plants are common knowledge, we get a speech on that shit every year." It was hard to deny that Jooheon had a point. They lived in a world of carnivores so it wasn't necessary for them to learn the difference, but they had the effects of nuclear radiation and ozone depletion drilled into their heads year after year.

"Carnivores are meat eaters, the majority of the animals on earth now are carnivores. Omnivores eat both meat and plants. Humans are the only omnivores left."

Satisfied with what he'd learned so far, Gunhee rolled back onto his back.

"It's hard to imagine a world where animals were less of a threat."

"Yeah, feels like all we know." Jooheon agreed.

Changkyun sighed, silently turning back to the carcasses he'd been gutting before he got distracted.

Gunhee continued his train of thought. "Can you imagine the people that could still be with us? The entire clusters of people that'd still be alive?"

Changkyun's grip tightened on his knife.

"Like clusters 5, 108, 73, 69 - " Changkyun clenched his jaw harder with each number Jooheon rattled off. Neither Jooheon nor Gunhee noticed, and Gunhee continued listing.

" - 82, 41, 16 - " Changkyun's gutting of the animals was getting sloppier. Jooheon continued numbering.

" - 24, 50, 93 - " Changkyun tried to control the rapidly increasing pace of his breathing. Gunhee picked up where Jooheon had left off.

"3- " Jooheon interrupted Gunhee with a pointed look, jerking his head towards Changkyun. Gunhee shut up immediately. Changkyun thrust his knife into the surface he'd been working on.

"Cluster 37. You can say it out loud if you want to. It's alright."

Changkyun was still turned away from the other two, but his tense muscles signalled that it was anything but alright to bring _it_ up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more is coming, do not fear
> 
> ~~also mx's comeback is killing me come cry w/ me[pls](http://joopoet.tumblr.com/)~~


	2. escape (run while you can)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Im Changkyun was thirteen years old when _it_ happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (i'm so bad at titling things i'm sry  
> i'm just titling these chapters whatever pops into my head)
> 
> so uh, here's part two of three!  
> more happens in this part so that's cool  
> (plus you guys find out what _it_ is)  
>  there's one more part after this!

Im Changkyun was thirteen years old when _it_ happened.

Changkyun was supposed to become a scientist, to help save the world by developing methods of sustaining what little was left of the human population and reverse the havoc wreaked by nuclear war. Armed with a sharp mind and test scores that put him in the top percentage of scientists-in-training, many claimed he was going to be one of the top scientists of the bright new generation.

But _it_ dashed his hopes and dreams and left him desperate, willing to do anything for survival.

 _It_ shouldn't have come as a surprise. The events leading up to the moment had spanned over the last couple of years, but how could shock not kick in when everything you once knew collapsed around you?

Cluster 37 had always been one of the weaker clusters in the area, with less technologically advanced weapons to keep out mutated animals and fewer willing hunters to keep the mutant animal population under control. Perimeter control was sparse at best, and the training facilities for the men and women who chose to defend Cluster 37 was decrepit.

Additionally, the mutant animal population had been on the rise, feeding off the absurd amount of waste discharged from the cluster. Cluster 37 was one of the many clusters known to develop the chemicals used in lab-grown foods, and thus waste was produced in mass. Animal break-ins were common and the population lived in fear, as often perimeter control took too long to neutralize the threat and lives were lost before the cluster was deemed "safe" again.

From a young age, Changkyun studied the habits of these animals from afar to determine the safest way to escape and ensure the security of himself and his loved ones in the event of another break-in.

It was really only a matter of time before Cluster 37 fell, completely overrun by hungry animals salivating over the taste of human flesh.

When _it_ happened, the cluster went into a frenzy. Perimeter control guards fired at the animals to the best of their abilities, but when they paused to reload their guns with ammunition, animals tore them apart. The casualties increased exponentially, multiplying at an alarming rate.

Changkyun's large brown eyes found his mother's and locked onto her amidst the chaos. After the two made eye contact, Changkyun brought a finger to his lips as silently as possible. He knew the particular species of creatures terrorizing the cluster relied on their senses of hearing; they rushed at the firing gunshots, they tore apart those with the loudest screams, and heavy footsteps were quickly halted.

Changkyun knew his window to escape was short; as soon as the animals killed enough people, the cluster would quiet down and he'd be found. He was alive, after all, with a heartbeat and respiratory needs.

He motioned at his mother to make a run for it during the commotion, to which she nodded.

It was difficult in a situation like this, but Changkyun tried his hardest to remain calm. The more fear that kicked in, the faster his heartbeat would climb, and the more he'd risk getting killed. All emotions were shoved to the back of his mind and bottled up. This situation called for nothing but cold, hard logic and a quick, stealthy escape. His legs moved forward in rapid succession, but he kept his footsteps light. With all his might, Changkyun willed his breathing to slow. His mother followed suit not far behind.

To this day, Changkyun still blames himself for what happened next, for not being observant enough of his surroundings.

On their way out of the cluster, Changkyun tripped and landed with a sounding thud. One of the animals heard and zoned in on him, much to his mother's horror. She yelled, distracting the animals and causing them to run towards her instead, urging her son to run while her diversion lasted.

To this day, Changkyun can still smell her blood in the air and feel his eyes squeeze shut as he pushed forward, pretending his heart wasn't shattering into a million pieces. To this day, he can still hear the blood rush to his ears and practically taste terror on his tongue.

When Changkyun had made it outside the cluster, he noticed a boy, possibly around his own age, who'd also escaped and was hiding, quaking with fear. The sight evoked a sense of sympathy within Changkyun as he motioned for the boy to keep quiet and come with him. The boy complied.

Changkyun needed someone, anyone, to stick with him after what had just happened. The two continued running, as fast and as far as their legs would carry them, trying to escape from the horrors they'd just witnessed.

When they were finally out of earshot of the creatures and the piercing screams emanating from what remained of their cluster, Changkyun opened his mouth to speak.

"What's your name?" He inquired.

The boy quivered like a leaf in the wind and answered in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Park Minkyun."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have more parts coming!!!  
> there's just one more part for this prequel thing  
> then comes the main fic!!!  
> (i'm so excited for the main fic tbh  
> that's when the _real_ shit happens)
> 
>  **in other news** :  
> mx's comeback is in less than 24 hours  
> i'm crying somebody hold me [pls](http://joopoet.tumblr.com/)


	3. survival (do what you must)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That night, Jooheon and Gunhee brought home two animals, as well as two new additions to their little family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i stg i meant to post this five days ago  
> but trips and graduation and things like that happened  
> plus mx's comeback killed me  
> i'm sorry guys, but uh, here's the third part of three to this prequel thing!
> 
> (also i'm so bad at titles i'm sry)

Cluster 13 was pleasant enough to grow up in if you were wealthy, where warm houses filled with the smell of fresh food provided by the cluster's ample hunters littered the streets, but being poor was a different story entirely.

The sections of the cluster the poor resided in held the stench of sewage and had entirely too many bodies, clad in nothing but rags, soleless shoes, and old clothing thrown away by the rich, crammed together. There were no real buildings, just the cold, dirt ground and the temporary settlements thrown together with what people could find laying around. While no one was starving because the Central Government issued food rations to the entire surviving population of the earth, no one's hunger was ever quite satiated either. 

The poor tended to live closer to the perimeter of the cluster, meaning that they were the first to go in the case of an animal break-in. Luckily, 13's perimeter control was stellar and well trained, and were always provided with effective weaponry as the cluster had a larger population as well as wealthy folks who valued their lives enough to fund these weapons. Safety wasn't guaranteed, of course, but the citizens of 13 definitely had a higher chance of survival than those of many other clusters.

Lee Jooheon and Song Gunhee grew up in one of the poorer areas of cluster 13, where their bare feet were caked with dirt and their clothes were torn and a few sizes too large. But they also had each other and were attached at the hip; they grew up sleeping pressed up against each other, telling each other stories to keep themselves company, and sharing all their life experiences and major milestones. They were best friends, completely inseparable, and even if they both got dealt the short end of the stick where life was concerned, they were okay as long as they had each other.

Growing up, neither of them knew their fathers. Gunhee's mother claims their fathers died trying to find a way to provide for them. They both know what that meant; there weren't many ways to escape poverty in a cluster like 13.

One of the very few ways for a poor person to rise out of their situation in cluster 13 was to become a hunter, but hunting was dangerous business. Animals were savage, bloodthirsty creatures, and guns weren't available to the public, so most amateur hunters started out using things like knives, ropes, traps, bows, and other weapons that were often fairly ineffective against the evolved animals they were dealing with. As a hunter gained more recognition and wealth, they could often find ways to bribe perimeter control guards into selling them a gun or two, but even so it was dangerous business.

Jooheon and Gunhee's fathers had formed a hunting duo, but died before they could really get anywhere. Jooheon's mother had gone to try to look for them, not willing to accept their deaths, and died from animal attacks outside the perimeter.

The case of Jooheon and Gunhee's fathers was by no means uncommon, most amateur hunters die within the first few months they decide to pursue the job. Despite this, those desperate enough still take that risk due to the potential riches offered.

Although the Central Government offers rations of the lab-grown meat and vegetables developed by its scientists to the entire human population, this lab-grown food is quite bland and tasteless, and has a bit of a strange texture. The poor, of course, don't have the option of being picky, but the rich often prefer to pay large sums of money to hunters for the fresh meat they haul in. 

Jooheon and Gunhee never blamed their fathers for what they tried to do. They knew that all they wanted was to create a better life than the one they were all thrust into.

Due to the situation, Gunhee's mother, along with the mother of another boy in the area, Choi Seokwon, had banded together to take care of some of the parentless or near-parentless kids in the area, including the Lee brothers, Jooheon and Minhyuk, No Yoonho, and of course, Song Gunhee and Choi Seokwon themselves.

The five kids grew up together. Minhyuk was the oldest, often helping the mothers take care of everyone, while Seokwon and Yoonho were the youngest, quieter and more obedient than the rowdy middle children, Jooheon and Gunhee.

They were all close, growing up together in a situation like that, but there was a special closeness between Jooheon and Gunhee, as well as between Seokwon and Yoonho. Jooheon and Gunhee were always the most outspoken of the five though, and the most bitter about the situation they'd been thrust into. They wanted to do something about it.

When Jooheon and Gunhee set their minds on becoming hunters, Gunhee's mother was strongly opposed to the idea. Despite this, the two snuck off to do it anyway.

Their first few attempts were rough; they returned empty handed with nothing to show for their efforts except scratches and bruises attained from narrowly escaping the creatures they'd tried to kill. Gunhee's mother scolded them heavily, expressing her disapproval at their actions. She couldn't bear to lose her children after having already lost her husband and friends.

But then, one hunting excursion changed everything.

Jooheon and Gunhee found themselves back to back with nothing but makeshift spears made from branches and stone, a slingshot attached to Jooheon's belt, which was really just a piece of string tied around his waist, and two large animals circling them, noses in the air, savoring the scent of human flesh.

Suddenly, a large rock dropped from above and hit one of the animals square in the nose. Its nose started to bleed profusely, causing it to whimper, paw at its nose, then run around blindly, suddenly directionless. This sudden development caused Gunhee to look up in the general direction of where rock came from, while Jooheon kept his gaze on the animals, too scared to tear it away. A boy covered in mud and leaves who reeked of piss and shit, with another boy crouching timidly behind him, met Gunhee's gaze, holding several more rocks.

"They can't hear or see and rely on their sense of smell to sense what's around them! Hit their noses!" The boy yelled at the duo below. Gunhee nodded, and he and Jooheon quickly used their makeshift weapons to wound the nose of the second animal.

That night, Jooheon and Gunhee brought home two animals, as well as two new additions to their little family. And thus, Im Changkyun became a permanent part of Jooheon and Gunhee's hunting team, tasked with keeping them alive as well as analyzing animals and how best to take them down, the trio began to make a name for themselves and earn some money, and Park Minkyun found a place where he felt safe for the first time in what felt like forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the main fic is coming up next  
> prepare for shit to go down


End file.
